The UGLY ONE

By Marius von Mayenburg, translated by Maja Zade
Performed at The Tron Theatre

Lette thought he was normal.   He’s the inventor of an incredible new electric plug but when his boss tells him he can’t go to a convention to announce his product to the world because he is unspeakably ugly and ‘can’t sell anything with that face’, his confidence is, understandably, rattled.

When even his wife concurs, Lette resorts to plastic surgery - ‘I wouldn’t know where to start’ confesses the doctor.  But once the bandages are removed, Lette learns that there is such a thing as being too beautiful. Everyone wants a piece of him. And to look like him.  As unforeseen hysteria unfolds, he is forced to confront some very ugly truths.

The Ugly One is a hilarious, fast-moving and scalpel-sharp comedy about external beauty and identity and the brutality of capitalism.

CAST:
Michael Dylan
Helen Katamba
Martin McCormick
Sally Reid

Designer: Becky Minto
Lighting Design: Katharine Williams
Sound Designer: Andy McGregor

Photography: Copyright: John Johnston (wwwjohnjohnstonphotography.co.uk) 

★★★★ ”Debbie Hannan’s hilarious and pitch-perfect production is a tremendous satire on a new age of the visual image” - Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman

★★★★ — Neil Cooper, The Herald

★★★★ “laugh-out-loud funny…under Debbie Hannan’s excellent direction, the story is sharply told” - Paul F Cockburn, Broadway Baby

★★★★ — Mathew Keeley, The Wee Review

“Debbie Hannan does fine things with the energetic, pop culture literate direction, referencing everything from haute couture to Janelle Monae's anthems to empowerment.” — Lorna Irvine, The List

“Debbie Hannan’s direction is whimsically slapstick: from the hilarious surgery sequence that makes ingenious use of a spare bowl of fruit and Michael Dylan’s mad foley artist skills, to a sex scene of carnal carnage that leaves the stage looking like Pat Sharp’s Fun House run over with a bulldozer.” - Christine Irvine, Exeunt